Alumni Feature | Avantika Gode, Master’s in Public Policy ‘16

Avantika Gode is currently the Director of Public Policy at Razorpay, a leading Indian fintech company. She previously worked at Uber for nearly five years where she was the Head of Public Policy for Federal Affairs and North India. Avantika was part of the first batch and the MPP program (2014-16), having joined the course after completing 4 years as a television journalist with Bloomberg TV in Mumbai. As a reporter she covered a range of policy issues, and inadvertently developed a keen interest in working with policy makers towards impacting change. She describes her time at NLS as transformative. The real world and grounded approach to policy are the learnings she tries to apply in all aspects of her work. Working with tech companies has given her a birds’ eye view of how technology is shaping our future. She believes that regulations and policies have to keep pace with technological changes, but more importantly need to foster it. Some argue that working with corporate companies may not require a deep understanding of developmental studies and field work that MPP exposes you to. Avantika believes otherwise. A critical part of working in policy teams is to be a two way line of communication between the government and the industry. She believes you can only engage and influence policy when you truly appreciate the complex development paradigm of today’s world. The policy world in India is getting more and more exciting by every minute, with the most interesting and challenging opportunities. Avantika thinks MPP students at NLSIU have the advantage of being the few, who are trained by the best faculty members who combine skills, knowledge and perspectives in the right proportion.